Future Dubai Hotel Will Sit 21 Stories Underwater

Imagine waking up in a hotel room, and instead of getting a view of a bustling city, or beach, or maybe a parking lot, you are greeted by underwater wildlife 200 feet below the surface. And while it sounds like something out of a early 20th-century sci-fi novel, one group is trying to make this a reality in Dubai.

Deep Ocean Technology just approved a design for the Water Discus Hotel, which would anchor half of the hotel 21 stories underwater, with the other half peeking out above the water. But whether or not this thing is actually built is a whole other story. As inhabitat points out, there had previously been plans for another underwater hotel in Dubai before that idea fizzled out, and until construction begins, nothing is ever set in stone. I can also imagine environmentalists are not pleased by the idea of something like this. [World Architecture News via Inhabitat via The Creators Project]